NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026
Is CAVA Group, Inc. (CAVA) Halal?
CAVA Group, Inc. · NYSE: CAVA · Consumer Discretionary
The short answer
CAVA Group passes all three Shariah gates: it operates a permissible Mediterranean restaurant business with no alcohol sales, carries zero interest-bearing debt (0.0% of its ~$6.2 billion market cap), and interest income of about 0.9% of revenue is well under the 5% ceiling.
Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS
CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAVA), formed as a Delaware corporation in 2015 and headquartered in Washington, DC, is a consumer discretionary company. Per its Q2 2026 Form 10-Q (Note 1 - Nature of Operations), it operated 476 fast-casual CAVA Restaurants in 29 states and Washington, DC as of July 12, 2026, serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine - chef-curated and customizable bowls and pitas - plus dips, spreads and prepared dressings sold in grocery stores (CPG). It is a food business, not interest-based lending. CAVA restaurants do not hold liquor licenses and serve only non-alcoholic beverages (fountain drinks, lemonades, teas, juices). It produces no tobacco, gambling, pork or other haram goods, and its filings disclose no material non-compliant revenue segments.
Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS
Per CAVA Group's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q (quarterly period ended July 12, 2026; $ thousands), the company carries no interest-bearing debt: Note 6 (Debt) states that as of July 12, 2026, the Company had no borrowings under its $150 million revolving Credit Facility (amended March 20, 2026, maturity extended to March 20, 2031), with $149.1 million of available capacity net of $0.9 million of letters of credit. Its liabilities consist of accounts payable, accrued expenses, operating lease liabilities and similar non-interest-bearing items. $0 of interest-bearing debt against a market cap of about $6.21 billion (Finnhub, October 2, 2026) is 0.0%, well under the 33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents ($322,763K) plus fixed income debt securities ($112,836K) total about $435.6 million, roughly 7.0% of market cap.
Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS
CAVA Group's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q separately discloses an 'Interest income, net' line in its condensed consolidated statements of operations: $3,293K for the twelve weeks ended July 12, 2026 against revenue of $368,436K - about 0.89%, and $7,375K for the twenty-eight weeks ended July 12, 2026 against revenue of $806,706K - about 0.91%. Both periods are well under the 5% non-compliant income ceiling.
Key figures used
- Business: fast-casual Mediterranean restaurants - 476 locations in 29 states + DC (July 12, 2026); chef-curated bowls and pitas; CPG dips/spreads in grocery stores; founded 2015 (first restaurant 2011, Bethesda MD); HQ Washington, DC
- No haram segments: no interest-based lending; no alcohol (restaurants hold no liquor licenses - non-alcoholic drinks only); no tobacco/gambling/pork; 10-Q discloses no material non-compliant revenue segments
- Debt: $0 interest-bearing debt at July 12, 2026 - no borrowings under the $150M revolving Credit Facility (Note 6); 0.0% of ~$6.21B market cap (Finnhub, Oct 2, 2026) - well under the 33% ceiling
- Cash: $322,763K cash and cash equivalents + $112,836K fixed income debt securities = ~$435.6M (~7.0% of market cap)
- Interest income, net: $3,293K in Q2 2026 vs $368,436K revenue = 0.89% - well under the 5% ceiling (YTD: $7,375K / $806,706K = 0.91%)
- Market data: NYSE-listed; still listed on NYSE (confirmed October 2, 2026; ~116.8M shares outstanding as of August 4, 2026)
- Third-party: Musaffa classifies CAVA as doubtful under its AAOIFI methodology as of October 2026 (differs from this screener's PASS); Zoya publishes no CAVA rating
Frequently asked questions
What does CAVA Group do?
CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAVA) is a consumer discretionary company founded as a Delaware corporation in 2015 and headquartered in Washington, DC. Per its Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, it operated 476 fast-casual CAVA Restaurants in 29 states and Washington, DC as of July 12, 2026, serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine - chef-curated and customizable bowls and pitas. It also centrally produces dips, spreads and prepared dressings sold in grocery stores (CPG). The first CAVA restaurant opened in Bethesda, Maryland in 2011.
Is CAVA Group's business Shariah compliant?
CAVA operates fast-casual Mediterranean restaurants and sells packaged dips and spreads - a food business, not interest-based lending. It does not produce alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pork or other haram goods; its restaurants do not hold liquor licenses and serve only non-alcoholic beverages. Its 10-Q discloses no material non-compliant revenue segments.
How much interest-bearing debt does CAVA Group have?
CAVA Group's interest-bearing debt is zero: Note 6 (Debt) of its Q2 2026 Form 10-Q states the company had no borrowings under its $150 million revolving Credit Facility as of July 12, 2026. Its liabilities are accounts payable, accrued expenses, operating lease liabilities and similar non-interest-bearing items. Zero debt against a market cap of about $6.21 billion is 0.0%, well under the 33% ceiling.
How much interest income does CAVA Group earn?
CAVA Group's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q separately discloses 'Interest income, net' of $3,293 thousand for the twelve weeks ended July 12, 2026 against revenue of $368,436 thousand - about 0.9%, and $7,375 thousand for the twenty-eight weeks ended July 12, 2026 against revenue of $806,706 thousand - about 0.9%. Both are well under the 5% non-compliant income ceiling.
Do other Shariah screeners rate CAVA Group as halal?
Musaffa classifies CAVA Group (CAVA) as doubtful under its AAOIFI-based screening methodology as of October 2026, which differs from this screener's PASS result - third-party screeners apply different assumptions and can change when new financial statements are published, so always check the latest screening before investing. Zoya does not publish a rating for CAVA, and no ShariaPortfolio rating was verifiable at the time of screening.
Sources
- CAVA Group Q2 2026 Form 10-Q (income statement, Note 6 - Debt, Note 1 - Nature of Operations)
- Finnhub - CAVA Group Inc financial market data (market cap, price)
- Musaffa - CAVA Shariah compliance page
Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.
Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).