CAVA vs YUM vs CMG Stock Comparison

Cava, Yum Brands and Chipotle Mexican Grill Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAVA Cava Group, Inc.
$51.86 +0.5% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$6.06B
P/E
99.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
1 win
YUM Yum Brands Inc
$149.51 +7.9% 1M +4.6% 1Y
Market cap
$40.80B
P/E
18.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.72B
Div. yield
1.98%
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
7 wins
CMG Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
$27.98 -10.7% 1M -31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$35.41B
P/E
25.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.42B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Yum Brands leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Yum Brands 7, Cava 1, Chipotle Mexican Grill 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCAVAYUMCMGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.06B $40.80B $35.41B YUM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 99.0x 18.5x 25.2x YUM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 101.7x 23.8x 26.1x YUM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.2% +10.3% +7.3% CAVA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.0% 25.4% 11.4% YUM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 54.9% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.9x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.98% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -17.6% +4.6% -31.9% YUM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +3.5%/yr -4.7%/yr YUM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.3% 25.4% 44.8% YUM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 52/100 64/100 CMG

Percentile Scorecard

CAVAYUMCMG

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

AxisCAVAYUMCMG
Valuation 2 #49 of 50 20 #40 of 50 25 #38 of 50
Growth 91 #5 of 47 65 #17 of 47 41 #28 of 47
Profitability 42 #27 of 46 98 #2 of 46 91 #5 of 46
Financial Health 96 #3 of 51 16 #43 of 51 64 #19 of 51
Shareholder Returns – 63 #13 of 33 100 #1 of 33
Overall 58 52 64
  • CAVA ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • YUM ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • CMG ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCAVAYUMCMGSPY
1 month +0.5%+7.9%-10.7% -0.2%
3 months -20.2%-0.6%-16.5% +3.9%
6 months -43.0%-4.4%-14.9% +8.2%
Year to date -11.6%-1.2%-24.4% +12.9%
1 year -17.6%+4.6%-31.9% +12.3%
3 years +64.0%+25.2%-25.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +17.9%+7.8%-9.5% +23.3%
5 years —+18.8%-21.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year —+3.5%-4.7% +10.9%
10 years —+143.6%+279.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+9.3%+14.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCAVAYUMCMGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.3%25.4%44.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.1%25.0%50.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.010.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.300.18-0.71 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.1%-24.2%-59.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.8%-11.1%-31.9% -1.2%
52-week high $97.39$168.16$41.06 $779.14
52-week low $43.59$135.80$27.51 $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.

MultipleCAVAYUMCMG
P/E now vs peer median 99.0xmedian 20.6x 18.5xmedian 20.6x 25.2xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 1.2x 4.7xmedian 1.2x 2.8xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 40.1xmedian 13.3x 17.8xmedian 13.3x 15.8xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 17.3x 24.3xmedian 17.3x 22.6xmedian 17.3x
P/B now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 3.1x -5.7xmedian 3.1x 16.1xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.63median 1.07 1.07median 1.07 2.21median 1.07

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 monthsCAVAYUMCMG
Revenue $1.22B $8.72B $12.42B
Gross profit $301.99M $5.94B –
Operating income $66.42M $2.70B $1.82B
Net income $61.05M $2.22B $1.42B
Free cash flow – $1.68B $1.57B
EPS (diluted) $0.52 $8.00 $1.11
Cash & equivalents $322.76M $674.00M $228.20M
Total debt – $12.28B –
Shares (diluted) 118.38M 277.00M 1.28B
Enterprise value $4.46B $37.68B $31.39B

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
MetricCAVAYUMCMG
P/E 99.0x 18.5x 25.2x
P/FCF – 24.3x 22.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 19.6x 15.2x
P/S 5.0x 4.7x 2.8x
P/B 7.2x -5.7x 16.1x
P/Tangible book 7.2x -5.2x 16.1x
EV/EBITDA 40.1x 17.8x 15.8x
EV/EBIT 84.6x 19.4x 19.1x
EV/Revenue 4.6x 6.0x 2.8x
EV/FCF – 31.2x 22.1x
EV/Operating cash flow – 25.2x 14.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.63 1.07 2.21

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAVAYUMCMG
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.2% 10.3% 7.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 23.5% 7.7% 10.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.7% 6.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.3% 4.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 25.1% 10.5% -5.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 63.5% 6.8% 8.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -56.6% 54.8% -7.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 62.8% 16.0% 8.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -56.6% 57.1% -2.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.7% 17.3% 11.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.6% 11.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 9.6% 9.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 9.5% 7.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 9.5% 7.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAVAYUMCMG
Gross margin 24.8% 68.1% –
EBITDA margin 11.5% 33.7% 17.7%
Operating margin 5.5% 31.0% 14.7%
Pretax margin 6.7% 25.2% 15.0%
Net margin 5.0% 25.4% 11.4%
FCF margin – 19.3% 12.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 23.9% 18.7%
Return on equity 7.5% – 61.6%
Return on assets 4.3% 26.2% 16.1%
Return on invested capital – 54.9% –
Return on capital employed 5.4% 65.1% 24.2%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.0x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 0.9x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAVAYUMCMG
Debt / assets – 141.4% –
Debt / equity – -1.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.9x –
Debt / FCF – 7.3x –
Liabilities / assets 43.9% 181.9% 75.2%
Equity / assets 56.1% -81.9% 24.8%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 2.5x 0.6x 0.7x
Quick ratio 2.4x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash ratio 2.3x 0.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 6.51 2.24 5.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAVAYUMCMG
Dividend yield – 2.0% –
Net buyback yield – 2.2% 7.9%
Shareholder yield – 4.2% 7.9%
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.

ConsensusCAVAYUMCMG
Forward P/E 101.7xFY2026 23.8xFY2026 26.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.51FY2026 $6.29FY2026 $1.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -5.6%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 -8.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +49.0% +16.7% +19.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.43BFY2026 $9.06BFY2026 $13.54BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +20.9%FY2026 +10.3%FY2026 +13.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +31.4% -4.0% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAVAYUMCMG
Held by institutions 89.4% 88.7% 89.5%
Institutions holding 541 1,435 1,197
Change in shares held, QoQ -6.7% +3.6% +0.3%
Institutions buying 245 626 510
Institutions selling 209 488 527
Buyers to sellers 1.17 1.28 0.97

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.

CAVAYUMCMG
CAVA 1.00 0.24 0.51
YUM 0.24 1.00 0.35
CMG 0.51 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAVA, YUM and CMG?

Yum Brands (YUM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cava (CAVA) $6.06B, Yum Brands (YUM) $40.80B, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) $35.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAVA, YUM and CMG?

Yum Brands (YUM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cava (CAVA) 99.0x, Yum Brands (YUM) 18.5x, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) 25.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Yum Brands (YUM) is cheapest (Cava (CAVA) 101.7x, Yum Brands (YUM) 23.8x, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) 26.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cava (CAVA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cava (CAVA) +12.2%, Yum Brands (YUM) +10.3%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) +7.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Yum Brands (YUM) has the highest net margin (Cava (CAVA) 5.0%, Yum Brands (YUM) 25.4%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) 11.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Yum Brands (YUM) returned the most: Cava (CAVA) -17.6%, Yum Brands (YUM) +4.6%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) -31.9%. Over five years, Yum Brands (YUM) compounded fastest (Yum Brands (YUM) +3.5%/yr, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) -4.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Yum Brands (YUM) 1.98%. Cava (CAVA) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Yum Brands (YUM) has been the steadiest (Cava (CAVA) 59.3%, Yum Brands (YUM) 25.4%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) 44.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Yum Brands (YUM) leads on 7. 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.