Nearly 10% increase in restaurant traffic leads to Cava earnings surpassing estimates.

• Cava beat Wall Street's estimates for its quarterly earnings and revenue.
• The Mediterranean restaurant chain reported a 9.5% increase in traffic during its fiscal second quarter, defying industry trends.
• The company also raised its full-year forecast.

Its restaurants reported strong traffic, fueling better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, so on Thursday raised its full-year outlook.

The stock has more than doubled its value this year, bringing Cava's market cap up to about $11.6 billion, as of Thursday's close. Its shares rose 7% in extended trading.

Based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, the company's quarterly report for the period ending July 14 differed from Wall Street's expectations.

• Earnings per share: 17 cents vs. 13 cents expected
• Revenue: $233 million vs. $220 million expected

The Mediterranean restaurant chain's fiscal second-quarter net income increased to $19.7 million, or 17 cents per share, from $6.5 million, or 21 cents per share, in the previous year.

The company's same-store sales increased by 14.4%, surpassing StreetAccount's forecast of 7.9%. Additionally, net sales jumped 35% to $233 million.

Despite a decline in visits reported by many other restaurant companies, Cava experienced a 9.5% increase in traffic during the quarter. Cava CEO and co-founder Brett Schulman attributed this growth to the introduction of its new grilled steak option, which kept customers coming to its restaurants.

During the quarter, Cava added 18 new locations, increasing its restaurant count to 341.

Cava has revised its forecast for same-store sales growth for fiscal 2024 to be between 8.5% and 9.5%, an increase from its previous range of 4.5% to 6.5%. Additionally, the company now expects to open 54 to 57 new locations this year, up from its previous forecast of 50 to 54 restaurants.

Cava anticipates reporting adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $109 million to $114 million, instead of the previously projected adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $105 million for the fiscal year.