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Good morning. Cava has reached 500 restaurants ahead of schedule, putting it halfway toward its goal of at least 1,000 locations by 2032. But for CFO Tricia Tolivar, the bigger challenge is ensuring the Mediterranean fast-casual chain can sustain its performance as it doubles in size.
The early results are encouraging. Cava’s newest restaurants are operating at roughly 100% productivity, Tolivar told me, suggesting the company has room to expand into new markets without sacrificing sales performance.
“Even more encouraging is the strength of those new restaurant openings,” she said.
Still, Cava’s rapid expansion comes as consumers face mounting financial pressure. The company reported Wednesday that third-quarter Cava segment revenue rose 22.1% year over year to $353.7 million, while same-restaurant sales increased 3.1%, with guest traffic slightly positive. Consolidated revenue totaled $356.4 million, short of analysts’ estimate of about $358.4 million.
Tolivar attributed about 150 basis points of the same-restaurant sales impact to consumer concerns about fresh produce following a Cyclospora outbreak, even though Cava wasn’t among the chains linked to it. Excluding that impact, same-restaurant sales would have grown roughly 4.6%. CAVA nevertheless raised its full-year same-restaurant sales guidance to 6% to 7%, up from 4.5% to 6.5%.
Cava has been one of the restaurant industry’s strongest performers in recent years, particularly in growth and sales momentum. The challenge now is balancing expansion with operational discipline, particularly as Cava enters new markets and consumers become more cautious about spending.
Tolivar said Cava has kept price increases below inflation over the past six years, while investing in technology and employee development to support growth.
That includes a new operator portal that allows general managers to manage digital orders and update out-of-stock items in real time. The company’s in-house Cava Command Center also consolidates restaurant performance data, replacing separate systems and spreadsheets.
For a chain that now operates in 31 states and Washington, D.C., those investments could become increasingly important. Managing 1,000 restaurants will require more than opening new locations; it will mean maintaining consistent execution, controlling costs and protecting the customer experience across a much larger operation.
Cava reached its 500-restaurant milestone through long-term planning, performance tracking, and adapting as circumstances changed, Tolivar said.
“When curveballs come your way, how do you then pivot and adjust so that you can continue to meet, if not exceed, expectations?” she said. She added that Cava is investing in the business “not for the next 12 weeks, but for the next 12 years and beyond.”
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
Sheryl.Estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves
Cecile Guegan was promoted to EVP and CFO of Pfizer (No. 73) effective Nov. 1. Guegan, who has served as interim CFO since Aug. 16, is the first woman to hold the role at the company. She has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical finance experience. Most recently, she was senior vice president of finance for Pfizer’s Global Biopharmaceuticals business. In earlier roles, Guegan served as a strategic partner to group presidents and chief commercial officers and led major enterprise acquisitions and integrations.
Alexander E.C. Overstrom was promoted to CFO of PNC Financial Services Group (No. 136), effective March 1, after the bank files its 2026 year-end financial reports. Overstrom succeeds Robert Q. Reilly, who has been CFO since 2013 and will become executive vice chairman, serving as a senior adviser to Chairman and CEO William S. Demchak. Overstrom has served as EVP and head of retail banking since 2022. He joined PNC in 2014 from Goldman Sachs.
Brandon Sewell was promoted to EVP and CFO of Sysco Corporation (No. 55), effective Nov. 1. Sewell has served as interim CFO since March 2026. He joined Sysco in 2014 and has held a series of finance leadership roles with increasing responsibility across the organization. Before being named interim CFO, Sewell served as SVP and CFO of Sysco’s U.S. business. Previously, he led Sysco’s global financial planning and analysis function.
The weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Elena Gomez, president and CFO of Toast (NYSE: TOST), has made the decision to step away from her role at the end of the calendar year. Gomez has been at Toast, a restaurant management software and technology company, for five and half years. She led the company through its 2021 IPO and has guided Toast through a transformative period of significant growth and profitability. Toast SVP of Finance Michael Senno will succeed Gomez as the CFO, effective Jan. 1, at which point Gomez will serve in an advisory role as a non-executive employee through July 2, 2027.
James Kehoe will step down as CFO of FIS (NYSE: FIS), a financial technology company, effective Nov. 5. Kehoe will serve as a non-executive senior advisor through March. FIS has appointed Alexandra Brooks, EVP and chief accounting officer, as interim CFO. Brooks will continue to serve as chief accounting officer and will work closely with Stephanie Ferris, FIS chief executive officer and president. The company has initiated a search for a permanent CFO, which will consider both internal and external candidates.
Michael Noonan will resign as CFO of Tripadvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP) to pursue another opportunity, effective Dec. 31. Kristen Dalton, Tripadvisor’s chief strategy and operations officer, will become interim CFO on Jan. 1. Dalton has held a number of roles at the company since joining in October 2019 as VP of FP&A. The CFO change comes as Matt Goldberg prepares to step down as president and CEO and leave the board. He will remain CEO through Feb. 16, while the board works with an executive search firm to find his successor.
Tom Inman was appointed CFO of Ditto, a software platform. Inman brings more than 25 years of experience in finance, venture capital and strategic operations. Inman joins Ditto from Performance Drone Works, where he served in senior finance leadership roles. Previously, he worked at Slingshot Aerospace, where he served as VP of finance. Earlier in his career, he served as managing director of Limestone Capital Advisors, and a principal at Gefinor Ventures.
Big Deal
As AI changes how work gets done, managing the people side of that change is becoming a financial priority. Seventy percent of leaders say their most recent transformation initiative fell short of its intended business value, according to a Deloitte report.
Still, the median return on change management investment was 4:1, meaning every $1 invested was associated with $4 in realized business value. Yet 60% of respondents say their company treats change management as a project cost rather than a business capability. AI is adding to the pressure: 61% say AI transformation is moving faster than their employees can handle.
Among leaders overseeing AI implementation, estimated turnover-related costs average $25.5 million. The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 change management leaders in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada, about half of whom hold C-suite roles, including CFOs.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Wall Street’s best post-midterm rally in 44 years lasted just one day—then $3 trillion vanished as chip stocks plunged over AI fears” —Catherina Gioino
“‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered first’: Elon Musk’s net worth falls $113 billion from Tesla and SpaceX drops” —Mia Osmonbekov
“The Iran war has cost U.S. households nearly $2,000 each. New strikes could keep the bill climbing” —Steven John
Overheard
“With or without AI acceleration, if more businesses knew how to ask consumers the right questions, we would break the cycle of bad data and bad decisions.”
—Sam Peskin, co-founder and CEO of Early Studies, a research partner to brands and policymakers, writes in a Fortune opinion piece.
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https://fortune.com/2026/11/06/cava-hit-500-restaurants-ahead-schedule-cfo-plans-double-size-2032/
Sheryl Estrada
