First Watch Q1 revenue rises 17%, slightly beats estimates

First Watch Restaurant

05/05/2026 12:30

Overview

US daytime dining chain's Q1 revenue rose 17%, slightly beating analyst expectations

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 beat analyst estimates, rising to $27.8 mln

Company opened 16 new restaurants and reaffirmed full-year revenue outlook

Outlook

First Watch sees 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $133 mln to $140 mln

Company expects 2026 same-restaurant sales growth of 1% to 3%

First Watch projects 2026 total revenue growth of 12% to 14%

Result Drivers

NEW RESTAURANT OPENINGS - Co said 16 new system-wide restaurants opened in 11 states contributed to revenue growth

SAME-RESTAURANT SALES - Same-restaurant sales grew 2.8%, though same-restaurant traffic declined 2.0%

OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN - Restaurant-level operating profit margin increased to 18.5% from 16.5% a year ago

Company press release: ID:nGNXbJfnVg

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 Revenue
Slight Beat*
$330.96 mln
$329.64 mln (11 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EBITDA
Beat
$27.80 mln
$25.43 mln (11 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EBITDA Margin
8.40%


*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.

Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 11 "strong buy" or "buy", 1 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the restaurants & bars peer group is "buy"

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for First Watch Restaurant Group Inc is $19.50, about 59.7% above its May 4 closing price of $12.21

The stock recently traded at 55 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 48 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)