CAVA (Cava Group) Beneish M-Score: -2.57 (As of Jun. 24, 2026)


CAVA Cava Group Inc CAVA
63 GF Score
Price $81.04
GF Value $87.26
Valuation Fairly Valued
! 1 Warning Sign
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What is Cava Group Beneish M-Score?

Cava Group CAVA +4.47% 63 Beneish M-Score is -2.57 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus rates CAVA with a GF Score™ of 63/100 and a GF Value™ of $87.26 (Fairly Valued). The stock has 1 warning sign investors should review. Among 357 Restaurants companies, Cava Group ranks worse than 66.39% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.57 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Cava Group's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

CAVA' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.77   Med: -1.06   Max: 0.78
Current: -2.57

During the past 5 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Cava Group was 0.78. The lowest was -2.77. And the median was -1.06.


Cava Group Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Cava Group's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Cava Group Beneish M-Score Chart

Cava Group Annual Data
Trend Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Beneish M-Score
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.37 -2.48

Cava Group Quarterly Data
Dec21 Apr22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 0.78 0.48 0.37 -2.48 -2.57

CAVA vs LKNCY, BROS, DPZ: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Restaurants subindustry, Cava Group's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Cava Group Beneish M-Score vs Restaurants Industry

For the Restaurants industry and Consumer Cyclical sector, Cava Group's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Cava Group's Beneish M-Score falls into.


CAVA
63GF Score
Cava Group Inc CAVA
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

Cava Group Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Cava Group for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.1775+0.528 * 1.0177+0.404 * 0.8734+0.892 * 1.2408+0.115 * 0.9943
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9293+4.679 * -0.090497-0.327 * 1.0528
=-2.57

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar26) TTM:Last Year (Mar25) TTM:
Total Receivables was $19 Mil.
Revenue was 438.27 + 274.985 + 292.238 + 280.615 = $1,286 Mil.
Gross Profit was 111.192 + 59.357 + 72.366 + 74.681 = $318 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $431 Mil.
Total Assets was $1,360 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $847 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $78 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $148 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $163 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $418 Mil.
Net Income was 23.566 + 4.921 + 14.747 + 18.368 = $62 Mil.
Non Operating Income was -8.179 + -5.625 + -6.148 + -5.696 = $-26 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 64.065 + 40.303 + 45.642 + 60.318 = $210 Mil.
Total Receivables was $13 Mil.
Revenue was 331.826 + 227.395 + 243.817 + 233.495 = $1,037 Mil.
Gross Profit was 84.063 + 51.432 + 62.647 + 62.36 = $261 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $394 Mil.
Total Assets was $1,170 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $695 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $64 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $128 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $133 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $341 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(18.988 / 1286.108) / (12.996 / 1036.533)
=0.014764 / 0.012538
=1.1775

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(260.502 / 1036.533) / (317.596 / 1286.108)
=0.251321 / 0.246943
=1.0177

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (431.073 + 846.918) / 1360.027) / (1 - (394.154 + 694.734) / 1169.669)
=0.060319 / 0.069063
=0.8734

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=1286.108 / 1036.533
=1.2408

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(63.844 / (63.844 + 694.734)) / (78.316 / (78.316 + 846.918))
=0.084163 / 0.084645
=0.9943

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(147.658 / 1286.108) / (128.054 / 1036.533)
=0.11481 / 0.123541
=0.9293

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((417.714 + 162.657) / 1360.027) / ((341.467 + 132.636) / 1169.669)
=0.426735 / 0.405331
=1.0528

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(61.602 - -25.648 - 210.328) / 1360.027
=-0.090497

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Cava Group has a M-score of -2.57 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.57 mean?
Cava Group (CAVA) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.57 as of Jun. 24, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Cava Group and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Cava Group ranks #237 out of 357 companies in the Restaurants industry, placing it in the top 66.4%.
Is Cava Group's Beneish M-Score too high?
Cava Group's current Beneish M-Score is -2.57. Based on the distribution chart, Cava Group ranks #237 out of 357 companies in the Restaurants industry, which is below the industry midpoint. Overall, Cava Group has a GF Score™ of 63/100 and is considered Fairly Valued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Cava Group's Beneish M-Score compare to LKNCY and BROS?
According to the Restaurants industry distribution chart, Cava Group ranks #237 out of 357 companies for Beneish M-Score. This places Cava Group in the lower half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Restaurants company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Restaurants industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Cava Group and its competitors. Cava Group's current Beneish M-Score is -2.57. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Cava Group stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Cava Group (CAVA) is currently considered Fairly Valued. The stock's GF Value™ is $87.26, compared to a current price of $81.04 — trading 7.1% below its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.57. Cava Group's overall GF Score™ is 63/100 with 1 warning sign to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Cava Group (CAVA), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.57 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Cava Group (CAVA) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Cava Group stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of $81.04 is trading 7.1% below its estimated GF Value™ of $87.26. GuruFocus considers Cava Group to be Fairly Valued.

Key valuation signals for CAVA:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.57
  • GF Value™: $87.26 vs. price of $81.04 (7.1% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 63/100 with 1 warning sign

No single metric tells the full story. See the CAVA stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Cava Group Business Description

Other Exchanges CAVA:Mexico
Address 14 Ridge Square NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC, USA, 20016
Cava Group Inc owns and operates a chain of restaurants. It operates a Mediterranean-inspired fast-casual restaurant brand offering menu items. The company's dips, spreads, and dressings are centrally produced and sold in grocery stores. The company's operations are conducted as two reportable segments: i) CAVA: It includes the operations of all company-owned CAVA restaurants, and ii) CAVA Foods: It includes the production of dips, spreads, and certain dressing bases used in CAVA restaurants as well as sales from the Company's consumer packaged goods business. The company generates the majority of its revenue from the CAVA segment.
63GF Score

Get the complete analysis for CAVA

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$81.04
Price
$87.26
GF Value