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Cava Restaurant
Cava restaurant (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Cava’s stock sizzles after JPMorgan calls the chain a long-term buy

Cava shares have soared over 125% since its 2023 IPO debut.

Nia Warfield

Cava shares were up nearly 6% Thursday morning after a JPMorgan upgrade fueled fresh optimism for the Mediterranean fast-casual chain.

JPMorgan analyst John Ivankoe upgraded the fast-growing food spot from neutral to overweight and reiterated his $110 price target. That implies a roughly 27% rally from the stock’s current levels. “We view the stock as a ‘buy now and own for the long-term,’” he wrote, emphasizing Cava’s US growth opportunity.

Cava expanded its footprint over the past year, adding 58 net new restaurants, bringing its total to 367. Ivankoe believes the chain will now easily top its original 1,000-store goal for 2032, predicting 2,000 locations by 2037 and 3,500 by 2043. 

While fast-food rivals struggle, Cava has been able to grow sales and keep prices reasonable. Since 2019, the CPI has increased 23% while Cava’s prices have gone up only 15%. Despite a phenomenal 162.5% surge in 2024, Cava shares have tumbled about 24% this year.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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