CAVA vs LKNCY vs YUM Stock Comparison

Cava, Luckin Coffee and Yum Brands Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CAVA Cava Group, Inc.
$60.00 +14.0% 1M +19.1% 1Y
Market cap
$7.01B
P/E
114.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
1 win
LKNCY Luckin Coffee Inc.
$33.01 -0.5% 1M -13.5% 1Y
Market cap
$10.58B
P/E
17.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.56B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
YUM Yum Brands Inc
$166.09 +18.8% 1M +11.2% 1Y
Market cap
$45.33B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.72B
Div. yield
1.78%
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Luckin Coffee leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Luckin Coffee 6, Yum Brands 4, Cava 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCAVALKNCYYUMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.01B $10.58B $45.33B YUM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 114.6x 17.0x 20.6x LKNCY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 117.6x 14.9x 26.5x LKNCY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.2% +33.7% +10.3% LKNCY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.0% 7.3% 25.4% YUM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 32.4% 54.9% YUM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.1x 3.9x LKNCY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 1.78% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.1% -13.5% +11.2% CAVA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +17.3%/yr +5.6%/yr LKNCY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.2% 44.1% 25.2% YUM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 84/100 51/100 LKNCY

Percentile Scorecard

CAVALKNCYYUM

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCAVALKNCYYUM
Valuation 2 #49 of 50 74 #14 of 50 22 #39 of 50
Growth 92 #5 of 48 94 #4 of 48 64 #18 of 48
Profitability 41 #28 of 47 83 #9 of 47 98 #2 of 47
Financial Health 96 #3 of 51 86 #8 of 51 18 #42 of 51
Shareholder Returns – – 53 #16 of 33
Overall 58 84 51
  • CAVA ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • LKNCY ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • YUM ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCAVALKNCYYUMSPY
1 month +14.0%-0.5%+18.8% -5.9%
3 months -3.6%-5.7%+9.1% -4.6%
6 months -29.0%-1.3%+5.6% +0.2%
Year to date +2.2%-1.5%+9.8% +7.5%
1 year +19.1%-13.5%+11.2% +8.2%
3 years +75.5%+0.0%+31.4% +68.3%
3 years, per year +20.6%+0.0%+9.5% +19.0%
5 years —+121.7%+31.1% +56.5%
5 years, per year —+17.3%+5.6% +9.4%
10 years ——+177.7% +251.5%
10 years, per year ——+10.8% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCAVALKNCYYUMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.2%44.1%25.2% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 52.0%38.0%25.1% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.120.510.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.32-0.310.44 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.1%-58.9%-24.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -38.4%-18.1%-1.2% -5.9%
52-week high $97.39$40.30$168.16 $779.14
52-week low $43.59$27.67$135.80 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCAVALKNCYYUM
P/E now vs peer median 114.6xmedian 22.0x 17.0xmedian 22.0x 20.6xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 1.1x 1.2xmedian 1.1x 5.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 46.9xmedian 13.5x 13.6xmedian 13.5x 19.4xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 18.3x 8.8xmedian 18.3x 27.0xmedian 18.3x
P/B now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 3.0x 4.1xmedian 3.0x -6.4xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 3.04median 0.89 0.89median 0.89 1.19median 0.89

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCAVALKNCYYUM
Revenue $1.22B $8.56B $8.72B
Gross profit $301.99M $5.21B $5.94B
Operating income $66.42M $943.76M $2.70B
Net income $61.05M $642.83M $2.22B
Free cash flow – $1.20B $1.68B
EPS (diluted) $0.52 $1.94 $8.00
Cash & equivalents $322.76M $1.13B $674.00M
Total debt – $484.28M $12.28B
Shares (diluted) 118.38M 321.02M 277.00M
Enterprise value $5.41B $5.68B $42.21B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCAVALKNCYYUM
P/E 114.6x 17.0x 20.6x
P/FCF – 8.8x 27.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 8.8x 21.8x
P/S 5.8x 1.2x 5.2x
P/B 8.3x 4.1x -6.4x
P/Tangible book 8.3x 4.1x -5.7x
EV/EBITDA 46.9x 13.6x 19.4x
EV/EBIT 99.0x 9.7x 21.1x
EV/Revenue 5.4x 1.1x 6.5x
EV/FCF – 7.7x 33.9x
EV/Operating cash flow – 7.7x 27.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.04 0.89 1.19

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAVALKNCYYUM
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.2% 33.7% 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 23.5% 41.5% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.7% 31.3% 6.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.3% 43.1% 4.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 25.1% 30.4% 10.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 63.5% 29.2% 6.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -56.6% 18.9% 54.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 62.8% 20.4% 16.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -56.6% 13.1% 57.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.7% 19.0% 17.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 20.4% 13.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 30.2% 9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 20.4% 9.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 30.2% 9.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAVALKNCYYUM
Gross margin 24.8% 60.8% 68.1%
EBITDA margin 11.5% 7.9% 33.7%
Operating margin 5.5% 11.0% 31.0%
Pretax margin 6.7% 11.2% 25.2%
Net margin 5.0% 7.3% 25.4%
FCF margin – 14.0% 19.3%
Operating cash flow margin – 14.0% 23.9%
Return on equity 7.5% 25.4% –
Return on assets 4.3% 11.8% 26.2%
Return on invested capital – 32.4% 54.9%
Return on capital employed 5.4% 27.9% 65.1%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.6x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.9x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAVALKNCYYUM
Debt / assets – 8.5% 141.4%
Debt / equity – 0.2x -1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.1x 3.9x
Debt / FCF – 0.4x 7.3x
Liabilities / assets 43.9% 54.4% 181.9%
Equity / assets 56.1% 45.6% -81.9%
Interest coverage – 431.4x –
Current ratio 2.5x 1.4x 0.6x
Quick ratio 2.4x 0.9x 0.3x
Cash ratio 2.3x 0.9x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 7.38 4.33 2.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAVALKNCYYUM
Dividend yield – – 1.8%
Net buyback yield – – 2.0%
Shareholder yield – – 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 36.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 48.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 4.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.9%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCAVALKNCYYUM
Forward P/E 117.6xFY2026 14.9xFY2026 26.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.51FY2026 $2.21FY2026 $6.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -5.6%FY2026 +38.1%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +49.0% +25.8% +15.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.43BFY2026 $9.64BFY2026 $9.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +20.9%FY2026 +36.7%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +31.4% +20.8% -5.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAVALKNCYYUM
Held by institutions 89.4% 0.0% 88.7%
Institutions holding 543 9 1,437
Change in shares held, QoQ -6.7% +880.6% +3.6%
Institutions buying 246 5 626
Institutions selling 209 0 489
Buyers to sellers 1.18 – 1.28

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CAVALKNCYYUM
CAVA 1.00 0.00 0.27
LKNCY 0.00 1.00 0.11
YUM 0.27 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAVA, LKNCY and YUM?

Yum Brands (YUM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cava (CAVA) $7.01B, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) $10.58B, Yum Brands (YUM) $45.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAVA, LKNCY and YUM?

Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cava (CAVA) 114.6x, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) 17.0x, Yum Brands (YUM) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) is cheapest (Cava (CAVA) 117.6x, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) 14.9x, Yum Brands (YUM) 26.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cava (CAVA) +12.2%, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) +33.7%, Yum Brands (YUM) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Yum Brands (YUM) has the highest net margin (Cava (CAVA) 5.0%, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) 7.3%, Yum Brands (YUM) 25.4%). On return on invested capital, Yum Brands (YUM) leads (Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) 32.4%, Yum Brands (YUM) 54.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cava (CAVA) returned the most: Cava (CAVA) +19.1%, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) -13.5%, Yum Brands (YUM) +11.2%. Over five years, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) compounded fastest (Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) +17.3%/yr, Yum Brands (YUM) +5.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Yum Brands (YUM) 1.78%. Cava (CAVA) and Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Yum Brands (YUM) has been the steadiest (Cava (CAVA) 59.2%, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) 44.1%, Yum Brands (YUM) 25.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAVA, LKNCY and YUM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Luckin Coffee (LKNCY) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.