CAVA vs DNUT Stock Comparison
Compare CAVA and DNUT across AIQ Score, fundamentals, valuation, momentum, risk, analyst expectations and current market evidence.
What is the main difference between CAVA and DNUT?
DNUT leads the current stock comparison as Krispy Kreme, Inc., with the clearest separation coming from value and the broader AIQ evidence mix.
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
CAVA Group, Inc. vs Krispy Kreme, Inc.
DNUT leads
DNUT leads by 7 AIQ points, primarily on Value and Momentum, and the lead has widened from 4 points over 30 sessions. Wall Street currently favors CAVA on target upside.
Competitive: 4 of 6 evidence groups support DNUT, and its lead is widening.
CAVA Group, Inc.
Krispy Kreme, Inc.
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors DNUT over CAVA, 37 versus 30 as of Sep 11, 2026. DNUT's advantage is driven primarily by stronger value and momentum. DNUT also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average, though analyst target upside currently favors CAVA. 4 of 6 covered evidence groups favor DNUT today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability. DNUT lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 4 to 7 points over 30 sessions.
Compare CAVA Group, Inc. and Krispy Kreme, Inc. across the Algovestiq AIQ Score, valuation, quality, momentum, risk, technicals and analyst expectations.
Performance over time
Price-return comparison using available daily close history.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000
Based on available close-price history. Distribution reinvestment is not added unless already reflected in the source series.
Compare CAVA and DNUT against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Value24 vs 42DNUT +18
- Momentum21 vs 26DNUT +5
- Quality38 vs 40Even
- Risk Resilience38 vs 37Even
4 of 6 evidence groups favor DNUT. DNUT’s edge is concentrated in value and momentum.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-09-10, compared against the prior scored session 2026-09-09.
No factor moved materially.
No new signals fired.
Largest factor move: Momentum -3
No new signals fired.
DNUT's lead was unchanged in the latest snapshot.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — CAVA and DNUT both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
DNUT (Krispy Kreme, Inc.): the stronger current systematic profile, led by value and momentum.
CAVA (CAVA Group, Inc.): the counter-case, on analyst expectations — but at materially higher volatility, 51.6% against 44.9%.
The AIQ Score and Wall Street therefore point in different directions on this pair.
Which one fits your objective
The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.
Balanced
DNUTDNUT on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.
Growth
DNUTDNUT on combined revenue and EPS growth.
Value
DNUTDNUT on the peer-relative Value factor, by 18 points.
Momentum
DNUTDNUT on the Momentum factor, by 5 points.
Lower downside
DNUTDNUT carries the lower 1-month annualized volatility.
Analyst upside
CAVACAVA on implied upside to the consensus price target.
AIQ vs Wall Street
The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors DNUT, analyst targets favor CAVA. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.
| Measure | CAVA | DNUT | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied upside to target | +63.6% | +55.8% | CAVA has more room |
| Target dispersion | +39.4% | +40% | Lower is tighter analyst agreement |
| Consensus | Buy | Hold | Context, not a primary driver |
| Analysts covering | 17 | 2 | Higher coverage generally improves confidence |
The two are measuring different things. The AIQ Score reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; analyst targets price forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something already priced in — it is worth resolving before acting on either.
Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions. Dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
4 of 6 covered evidence groups favor DNUT. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | DNUT | 30 vs 37 |
| Fundamentals | DNUTon balance | revenue growth -15.9% vs -9.8%; TTM ROE 8.3% vs -14.9%; gross margin 20.2% vs 46.8% — DNUT takes 2 of 3 decided legs, not all of them |
| Valuation | DNUT | Value 24 vs 42 |
| Technicals | DNUT | Price vs 50-day -16.2% vs -3.5%; vs 200-day -21.2% vs -10.2% |
| Risk Resilience | Even | Risk Resilience 38 vs 37 |
| Analyst expectations | CAVA | Target upside 63.6% vs 55.8% |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of CAVA and DNUT and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is moderate at 7 points.
- The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on DNUT.
How the comparison changed
119 daily snapshots · May 4 – Sep 10DNUT lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 4 to 7 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- DNUT +7
- 30 vs 37
- 7 sessions ago
- DNUT +15
- 30 vs 45
- 30 sessions ago
- DNUT +4
- 42 vs 46
- 90 sessions ago
- DNUT +3
- 33 vs 36
The lead changed hands 8 times in this window, most recently on Aug 13 when CAVA moved ahead of DNUT.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
2 bullish / 4 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (8.27%)
- BB Lower Band Breach — bullish, volatility, short horizon
- Keltner Channel Breakdown — bearish, volatility, short horizon
0 bullish / 3 bearish / 1 neutral
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (7.14%)
- Downtrend Structure Active — bearish, trend, long horizon
- ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (4.61%)
CAVA is conflicted, so the timing case there is weaker than the score alone suggests.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +3.48%, AIQ 0 points).
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.31%, AIQ 0 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1CAVA closes the Value gap — currently 18 points behind, the largest single contributor to DNUT's edge.
- 2CAVA's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3DNUT starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Fundamentals
DNUT leads on balance| Metric | CAVA | DNUT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -15.9% | -9.8% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 0% | 25% |
| Gross margin | 20.2% | 46.8% |
| Operating margin | 6.8% | -1% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | 8.3% | -14.9% |
| Debt to equity | 0.62 | 0.76 |
Performance
DNUT leads 5 of 6 windows| Metric | CAVA | DNUT |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -12.6% | -8% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -22.3% | -3% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -33.8% | -17.9% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -32.4% | -1.8% |
| Year to date | -8% | -20.4% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -17.4% | 1.6% |
Technicals
DNUT has the stronger structure| Metric | CAVA | DNUT |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 13.7 | 31.1 |
| ADX (14) | 19.6 | 14.5 |
| Price vs 50-day | -16.2% | -3.5% |
| Price vs 200-day | -21.2% | -10.2% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 51.6% | 44.9% |
Risk
Split| Metric | CAVA | DNUT |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 1.4 | 0.61 |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.09 | 0.3 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.17 | 0.62 |
| Max drawdown | -44.5% | -37.9% |
| Current drawdown | -44.5% | -31.9% |
| Annualized volatility | 60% | 64.9% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -5.6% | -5.8% |
Straight answers
Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.
Which is better, CAVA or DNUT?
On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, DNUT is the stronger of the two as of Sep 11, 2026, scoring 37 against CAVA's 30. The edge comes from value and momentum. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.
Is CAVA or DNUT the better buy right now?
DNUT carries the stronger systematic profile as of Sep 11, 2026, and the comparison is rated Competitive — 4 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. A Competitive rating means the two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
Why does the AIQ Score favor DNUT over CAVA?
The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. DNUT leads Value by 18 points; DNUT leads Momentum by 5 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.
Which has more analyst upside, CAVA or DNUT?
Analyst price targets imply +63.6% upside for CAVA and +55.8% for DNUT, so the Street currently favors CAVA. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors DNUT. The two are measuring different things: the model reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; the Street is pricing forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something the analysts have already priced — it is the single most useful row on this page to investigate. Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions, and dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
Which is better value, CAVA or DNUT?
DNUT is the better-valued of the two on the peer-relative Value factor. DNUT on the peer-relative Value factor, by 18 points. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.
Which has stronger growth, CAVA or DNUT?
DNUT on combined revenue and EPS growth. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.
Which has stronger momentum, CAVA or DNUT?
DNUT on the Momentum factor, by 5 points. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.
Which is riskier, CAVA or DNUT?
DNUT is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. DNUT carries the lower 1-month annualized volatility. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.
Is CAVA more profitable than DNUT?
The profitability evidence is mixed: gross margin 20.2% vs 46.8%; operating margin 6.8% vs -1%; ttm roe 8.3% vs -14.9%. Each name leads on one measure, and there is no single profitability composite that resolves the split — which of the two reads as "more profitable" depends on whether you weight pricing power or operating leverage.
Is DNUT's lead over CAVA getting stronger or weaker?
DNUT lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 4 to 7 points over 30 sessions. This is measured from 119 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-05-04 and 2026-09-10. The lead has changed hands 8 times in that window, most recently on 2026-08-13, when CAVA moved ahead of DNUT.
What would change the CAVA vs DNUT verdict?
The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: CAVA closes the Value gap — currently 18 points behind, the largest single contributor to DNUT's edge; CAVA's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it; DNUT starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals; a regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
What do the current signals say about CAVA and DNUT?
CAVA: 2 bullish / 4 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted. DNUT: 0 bullish / 3 bearish / 1 neutral. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. The most decision-relevant rule on CAVA is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon). On DNUT it is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon).
Compare CAVA and DNUT with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.