First Watch added as a new long idea at Hedgeye

[A First Watch restaurant Pearland, Texas, USA.]

First Watch (NASDAQ:FWRG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FWRG]) was added as a new long with the potential for 30%+ upside.

"Near term, applying 11x EV/EBITDA (ex-cap leases) to 2026 estimates yields a price target north of $22, representing 30%+ upside," Hedgeye analyst Bennett Cheer wrote in a note on Tuesday. "But the real opportunity lies in execution and margin expansion: with management delivering, this can be a double in 2–3 years. First Watch isn’t just the leader in breakfast, brunch, and lunch—it’s one of the most compelling growth stories in restaurants today. "

Cheer sees the growth runway as long for First Watch, with 600+ restaurants now with visibility to ~2,200 potential locations.

"The company doesn’t need a full buildout to unlock substantial shareholder returns—disciplined unit growth, traffic gains, and margin recovery are enough to sustain outsized performance," Cheer added.

MORE ON FIRST WATCH RESTAURANT

* First Watch Restaurant: Brunch Boom, Earnings On The Side [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4811774-first-watch-restaurant-brunch-boom-earnings-on-the-side]
* First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (FWRG) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4808919-first-watch-restaurant-group-inc-fwrg-q2-2025-earnings-call-transcript]
* First Watch Restaurant: Breakfast Is Still Hitting Snooze In Q2 [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4801029-first-watch-restaurant-breakfast-is-still-hitting-snooze-in-q2]
* Advent International to sell 5M shares of First Watch in secondary offering [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4480797-advent-international-to-sell-5m-shares-of-first-watch-in-secondary-offering]
* First Watch outlines 62–67 new locations for 2025 as unit growth accelerates [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4478925-first-watch-outlines-62-67-new-locations-for-2025-as-unit-growth-accelerates]