First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. had return on equity of 3.2%, an operating margin of 2.3%, debt equal to 45.1% of equity and a current ratio of 0.29. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMSept 2026
Operating margin	−8.6%	−13.8%	3.7%	2.3%	4.6%	3.8%	2.3%	2.2%
Net margin	−10.4%	−14.5%	−0.4%	0.9%	2.8%	1.9%	1.6%	1.5%
Free-cash-flow margin	−8.6%	−13.2%	4.6%	0.1%	1.3%	−1.2%	−2.5%	−1.6%
Return on equity	−13.8%	−15.3%	−0.5%	1.3%	4.7%	3.3%	3.2%	3.1%
Return on assets	—	−4.9%	−0.2%	0.6%	2.1%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%
Asset turnover	—	0.34	0.59	0.68	0.75	0.73	0.75	0.75
Current ratio	—	0.64	0.70	0.67	0.62	0.40	0.29	0.25
Debt to equity	0.0%	90.4%	20.9%	19.6%	22.3%	33.3%	45.1%	45.2%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	n/m	n/m	1.1x	3.2x	5.1x	3.1x	1.6x	1.5x
Effective tax rate	—	—	—	45.1%	29.6%	32.5%	—	—
Capital spending as % of revenue	13.6%	7.8%	5.9%	8.5%	9.3%	12.6%	12.8%	11.1%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	—	—	10.4%	47.3%	−64.7%	−159.5%	−107.9%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026	2026 Q3Sept 2026
Operating margin	1.5%	0.4%	2.4%	3.2%	2.9%	0.3%	2.3%	3.2%
Net margin	0.3%	−0.3%	0.7%	0.9%	4.8%	−0.8%	0.7%	1.4%
Free-cash-flow margin	−6.7%	−5.8%	−0.5%	1.7%	−5.8%	1.5%	−3.7%	1.5%
Current ratio	0.40	0.31	0.27	0.25	0.29	0.29	0.27	0.25
Debt to equity	31.8%	32.1%	41.6%	41.3%	43.0%	42.8%	43.8%	42.7%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

1 of 7 checks passed · September 27, 2026

What it owns · $1.9bn

Short-term assets $47mLonger-term assets $1.8bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $1.9bn

Short-term liabilities $191mLonger-term liabilities $1.0bnShareholders' equity $644m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $47m of assets due within a year against $191m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $47m short-term assets against $1.0bn of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $21m of cash against $275m of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 43% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 19% to 43% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $129m of operating cash flow against $275m of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $29m against $19m of interest.

From First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

25 /100

Weak moat

How hard First Watch Restaurant Group's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 6 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 0 / 20

Net income has been a median 0.7% of total assets over 6 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 2.8%; its worst year was 1.9%.
Cash conversion 5 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 3 of 6 years, at a median 0.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved November 3, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.