First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates and franchises restaurants under the First Watch trade name in the United States. The company was formerly known as AI Fresh Super Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. in December 2019. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Bradenton, …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.89), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
Key risks
Liquidity ConcernsLiquidity is concerning (score 0.06), raising questions about short-term obligations.
Revenue Volatility Signals Weak StickinessRevenue volatility is high (stability score 0.30), suggesting weak customer stickiness.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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First Watch Restaurant Group, I ranks #32 of 57
scored companies in Restaurants by moat score — the top 56%.
The widest moat in the group is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM)
at 83/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near FWRG in Restaurants
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 53
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 38
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 48
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 35
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 45
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
What is First Watch Restaurant Group, I's moat score?
First Watch Restaurant Group, I (FWRG) scores 45 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #32 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants, the top 56%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Restaurants. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (53/100) and its weakest is Resilience (35/100).
How does First Watch Restaurant Group, I compare with other Restaurants companies?
First Watch Restaurant Group, I ranks #32 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score. The widest moat in Restaurants is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor (CBRL) at 48 just above it and Chanson International Holding (CHSN) at 45 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Restaurants. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is First Watch Restaurant Group, I scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for First Watch Restaurant Group, I?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and FWRG scores: Pricing Power (52), Cost Advantage (53), Customer Stickiness (38), Capital Efficiency (48), Resilience (35), Scale & Market Position (45). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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