CAVA Group Inc (NYSE:CAVA) is up 2.2% at $77.99 in premarket trading, after UBS upgraded the Mediterranean restaurant chain to "buy" from "neutral" and lifted its price target to $90 from $85. The brokerage pointed to strong sales trends, accelerating unit growth, and an attractive risk/reward setup following the stock's recent pullback.
The upgrade arrives as CAVA attempts to build on its recent rebound. Shares are up nearly 30% in 2026, though they remain well below their April 21 annual high of $98.79. The equity has added more than 5% over the last week, and today's premarket move has it eyeing a fifth-straight gain.
Analyst sentiment leans bullish heading into today. Of the 30 brokerages in coverage, 18 carry a "buy" or better rating, while 12 sport a "hold" or worse.
Options traders have leaned bearish toward CAVA stock. The security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.52 ranks higher than 98% of readings from the past year, showing short-term options traders are more put-heavy than usual. Meanwhile, short interest accounts for 12.2% of the stock's available float, leaving plenty of room for short-covering activity should the shares continue higher.
The options pits are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations, too, per CAVA's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 57%, which sits in the 22nd percentile of its annual range. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 93 out of 100 indicates it has consistently exceeded those expectations during the past year.
