LIVE: What will CAVA say during their Q2 2026 earnings call?

Final count: Quarter 60. Salmon 18. Shrimp 4. Expansion 4. Catering 3. Fiscal 1.

Zero mentions: Franchising, Prototype, Spice, Sweet Potato, Tariff, World Cup.

Brett said the word 2 times in the prepared remarks, on restaurant expansion in new and existing markets and the Bay Area entry in 2027, and Tricia has just added "sustainable margin expansion over time."

Q&A opens.

The reason why guidance was reiterated is that the Cyclospora outbreak across the category took CAVA's comps down to flat-to-positive before recovering to mid-single digits.

The word quarter has now passed 30 mentions.

"For the full fiscal year 2026, we continue to expect our effective tax rate to be between 23% and 28%, with the rate in the second half of the year being higher than the first half of the year due to the timing of equity-based vesting."

The base rates going in were 6, 1, 1, 1, 5, and 1, and both of the readings that reached 5 were Q4 calls where the fiscal year is the subject of the call.

"We anticipate CAVA's food, beverage, and packaging costs to increase as a percent of revenue for the rest of the year as a result of fuel surcharges and the rollout of pre-marinated chicken."

Tariff is the second most traded word on this board at $1,766, and it is still at zero.

Simplifying restaurant execution, reducing back-of-house workload, taking complexity out of the kitchen. He never uses the word.

"Our Harissa BBQ Pita Chips, which bring together smoky, spicy, and subtly sweet flavors"

Spicy, not spice. And sweet with no potato behind it. Due to the rules, these do not count because the market counts plurals and possessives. It does not count derived adjectives.

Salmon arrived with the nationwide launch of Pomegranate Glazed Salmon, the first seafood offering in company history.

Shrimp followed immediately:

"We have recently concluded the market test of our Roasted Garlic Shrimp."

Both contracts were already priced with certainty, and both are now settled.

He has already said quarter 6 times in under 3 minutes. The contract needs 10 to settle.

World Cup costs 32.5 cents. The tournament ran June 11 to July 19, which is almost exactly the quarter being reported, so the bucket looks obvious. CAVA ran no World Cup marketing, promotion, or tie-in. Its actual summer campaign was a three-part dinner series called the Mediterranean Summer Supper Series.

CAVA reports Q2 results after the close and takes questions at 5 PM. Polymarket's earnings call market has 12 words and $6,001 of turnover.

Quarter 10+ times, Fiscal 5+ times, Franchising, Prototype, Salmon, Catering, Expansion, Shrimp, Spice, Sweet Potato, Tariff, World Cup.

Quarter 10+ times costs 99.4 cents. The last six calls used the word 35, 48, 60, 48, 36, and 58 times, so there is nothing to discuss there.

Fiscal 5+ times costs 24.5 cents, and it was mentioned 6, 1, 1, 1, 5, and 1 time. The 2 readings that got to 5 are the 2 Q4 calls. Every Q1, Q2, and Q3 quarter call in the sample says the word exactly once, and always in the same CFO sentence about the full-year effective tax rate.

Consensus is revenue of $353.3m and earnings of $0.17 cents a share, against a Q2 last year that comped at just 2.1%. The stock closed at $61.58, down 27.6% over 12 months, with options pricing a move of about 11% either way.