First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.05, Zacks reports. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.35% and a return on equity of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $349.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from First Watch Restaurant Group’s conference call:

• Third-quarter revenue increased 10.7% to $349.9 million, supported by 1.0% same-restaurant sales growth and contributions from 147 non-comparable restaurants. Same-restaurant traffic declined 1.9%, but the company highlighted an 8.1% two-year sales increase and 0.8% two-year traffic increase.
• Adjusted EBITDA rose 17% to $39.7 million, with margin expanding to 11.4% from 10.8% a year ago. G&A leverage improved by 60 basis points, although restaurant-level operating margin declined 30 basis points to 19.4% due to higher food and controllable costs.
• Management raised its full-year outlook for Adjusted EBITDA to approximately $136 million, at the high end of its previous range, and now expects revenue growth of about 13.5%. Full-year commodity inflation is expected to be roughly flat, while capital expenditures were reduced to approximately $145 million.
• First Watch opened 16 restaurants in the quarter and 53 year to date, and remains on track for approximately 60 net new systemwide restaurants in 2026 and 55 openings in 2027. Recent restaurant classes are exceeding sales and return targets, supporting continued confidence in the brand’s expansion opportunity.
• Management plans to preserve flexibility around unit growth beyond 2027 because of higher interest rates and floating-rate borrowing exposure, while raising its long-term Adjusted EBITDA growth target through 2028 to more than 15%. The company is also testing TikTok GO and local linear television to broaden awareness and generate traffic, but these initiatives remain early-stage.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $13.63 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.38 and its 200 day moving average is $12.44. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.88 and a fifty-two week high of $18.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $841.11 million, a PE ratio of 47.00, a PEG ratio of 58.49 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting First Watch Restaurant Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 adjusted earnings were $0.08 per share, ahead of analysts’ $0.03 estimate and up from $0.05 a year earlier. Revenue rose 10.7% year over year to $349.9 million, slightly above expectations. Zacks earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its long-term adjusted EBITDA growth target to more than 15% through 2028, strengthening the outlook for profit growth. Adjusted EBITDA outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The company plans 60 net-new system-wide restaurants in 2026 and is targeting about 55 openings in 2027, supporting continued expansion and revenue growth. Growth and expansion plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Same-restaurant sales grew 1.0%, a modest increase compared with total revenue growth; much of the overall sales expansion reflects the restaurant base growing. First Watch reported $4.8 million in net income and $39.7 million in adjusted EBITDA. Q3 financial results

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FWRG. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.90.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc operates a daytime-focused restaurant concept serving breakfast, brunch and lunch. Its restaurants offer made-to-order meals such as omelets, pancakes, French toast, sandwiches, salads and bowls, along with fresh juices, coffee and other beverages. The company generally does not serve dinner, positioning its restaurants around the daytime dining occasion.

First Watch restaurants emphasize fresh preparation and seasonal menu offerings, including items made with eggs, fruits, vegetables and other ingredients prepared in the restaurant.