First Watch Restaurant Group
FWRG on Nasdaq. First Watch Restaurant Group sells breakfast, brunch, and lunch to restaurant customers. Market value $649m.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Retail & consumer stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $-3.19 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 32.9 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 3 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 61 of 100. Price score: 15 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$10.61 a share, 7% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $9.88 to $18.82.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: a shortfall of $21 million in the past 12 months, a shortfall of $31 million in the year to December 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $601m | $730m | $892m | $1.0bn | $1.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 3.7% | 2.3% | 4.6% | 3.8% | 2.3% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.22 | 0.33 | 0.45 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive3 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.45× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 19.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $355 million last quarter, up 15% on a year ago.
- Profit: $2 million, about the same as a year ago.
- It keeps 2 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, about the same as a year earlier.
- Over the past 12 months it spent $21 million more cash than it brought in, compared with $29 million a year earlier.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
- Debt is $272 million more than cash, up from $243 million a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $252m |
| December 2024 | $263m |
| March 2025 | $282m |
| June 2025 | $308m |
| September 2025 | $316m |
| December 2025 | $316m |
| March 2026 | $331m |
| June 2026 | $355m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $2m |
| December 2024 | $699,000 |
| March 2025 | -$829,000 |
| June 2025 | $2m |
| September 2025 | $3m |
| December 2025 | $15m |
| March 2026 | -$3m |
| June 2026 | $2m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 24 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 3 November 2026
Who owns it
2 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 2 last quarter. 206 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $7m | <0.1% | Added |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $791,100 | <0.1% | Cut |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$58mAdded
- Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, the$49mAdded
- Bank of New York Mellon$48mCut
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$33mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$32mAdded
- Millennium Management$28mCut
- Neuberger Berman Group$27mCut
- GW&K Investment Management$26mAdded
- Stephens Investment Management Group$25mAdded
- Hodges Capital Management$21mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
7 investors own more than 5%.
- Advent International VIII, LLCPassive investorat least 31.7%(filed with 20 related holders)Since 31 December 2024
- Bank of New York Mellon CorpPassive investorat least 6.5%(filed with 3 related holders)Since 31 March 2026
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor6.5%+1.4 ptsSince 31 March 2026
- Manulife Investment Management (US) LLCPassive investorat least 6.2%(filed with 2 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLCPassive investorat least 5.1%0.0 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 31 May 2026
- Millennium Management LLCPassive investorat least 3.6%−1.4 pts(filed with 3 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- FMR LLCPassive investorat least 3.3%−7.6 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 31 March 2026
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LPPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 June 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
- ADVENT INTERNATIONAL, L.P.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 September 2025
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Advent International VIII, LLC Passive investor | at least 31.7% (filed with 20 related holders) | 31 December 2024 | |
Bank of New York Mellon Corp Passive investor | at least 6.5% (filed with 3 related holders) | 31 March 2026 | |
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 6.5%+1.4 pts | 31 March 2026 | |
Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC Passive investor | at least 6.2% (filed with 2 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC Passive investor | at least 5.1%0.0 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 31 May 2026 | |
Millennium Management LLC Passive investor | at least 3.6%−1.4 pts (filed with 3 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
FMR LLC Passive investor | at least 3.3%−7.6 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 31 March 2026 | |
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 June 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 | |
ADVENT INTERNATIONAL, L.P. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 September 2025 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 8 sold $2m, $209,610 of it under preset trading plans.
- Eisenacher MatthewChief Brand OfficerSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 2,760
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $34,555
- Jones John DanielChief Operations OfficerSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 1,697
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $21,246
- Hartman Eric RichardChief Development OfficerSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 1,819
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $22,774
- Tomasso Christopher AnthonyPresident and CEO, DirectorSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 25,062
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $313,776
- Sorensen Laura AnneChief People OfficerSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 1,697
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $21,246
- HOPE H MELVILLE IIICFO and TreasurerSold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 3,878
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $48,553
- Wolszczak Jay AnthonyChief Legal Officer, GC & SecySold
- Date
- 17 March 2026
- Shares
- 3,161
- Price
- $12.52
- Value
- $39,576
- Tomasso Christopher AnthonyPresident and CEO, DirectorSold
- Date
- 10 March 2026
- Shares
- 33,314
- Price
- $12.59
- Value
- $419,423
- Hartman Eric RichardChief Development OfficerSold
- Date
- 10 March 2026
- Shares
- 4,820
- Price
- $12.59
- Value
- $60,684
- HOPE H MELVILLE IIICFO and TreasurerSold
- Date
- 10 March 2026
- Shares
- 7,358
- Price
- $12.59
- Value
- $92,637
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2026 | Eisenacher Matthew Chief Brand Officer | Sold | 2,760 | $12.52 | $34,555 |
| 17 March 2026 | Jones John Daniel Chief Operations Officer | Sold | 1,697 | $12.52 | $21,246 |
| 17 March 2026 | Hartman Eric Richard Chief Development Officer | Sold | 1,819 | $12.52 | $22,774 |
| 17 March 2026 | Tomasso Christopher Anthony President and CEO, Director | Sold | 25,062 | $12.52 | $313,776 |
| 17 March 2026 | Sorensen Laura Anne Chief People Officer | Sold | 1,697 | $12.52 | $21,246 |
| 17 March 2026 | HOPE H MELVILLE III CFO and Treasurer | Sold | 3,878 | $12.52 | $48,553 |
| 17 March 2026 | Wolszczak Jay Anthony Chief Legal Officer, GC & Secy | Sold | 3,161 | $12.52 | $39,576 |
| 10 March 2026 | Tomasso Christopher Anthony President and CEO, Director | Sold | 33,314 | $12.59 | $419,423 |
| 10 March 2026 | Hartman Eric Richard Chief Development Officer | Sold | 4,820 | $12.59 | $60,684 |
| 10 March 2026 | HOPE H MELVILLE III CFO and Treasurer | Sold | 7,358 | $12.59 | $92,637 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 24 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 4 Aug 2026 and 6 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 32.9× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.